I saw Dune, Part Two

Like director Denis (Blade Runner 2049) Villeneuve's Dune: Part One, the second slice of Frank Herbert's epic novel comprises another taste of appetizing lore, which most know like the back of their hands; so why rehash it? Then again, a wee setup can't hurt.

For Part Two, savior-apparent, Paul Atreides, played by Timothee Chalamet, and his charming cohort, Chani, played by Zendaya, seek out the Harkonnens for having murdered his father. In this respect, Dune Two is a revenge tale set on Arrakis and beyond, with whale-sized worms; youth-sustaining Spice Melange; explosive battles and a pressing, Shakespearean commitment to set all things right for the freedom-fighting Fremen. 

My prime interest in this cinematic retelling was to witness Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen's entrance. He's played by Sting in David Lynch's adaptation and by Matt Keeslar in John Harrison's. The colorful character is now portrayed by Austin Butler, who made quite a pop-cultural splash as Elvis Presley. 

Come-and-go shots of Butler's Feyd over the months referenced Sam Britton, the Washington, nuclear official and luggage thief who denied responsibility for the criminality; but upon full inspection, Butler's Feyd is much more stylish and glowering in his insolence, exuding a Mick Jagger swagger, crossed with Max Schreck's raptorial stealth.  

This pervasive, villainous portrayal differentiates the new Dune, while most of its ingredients are as expected. That's acceptable, since there was no need to reinvent the Herbert wheel beyond the fun of it and of course, letting it re-roll with its occasional nuances, fortified along the way by Hans Zimmer's hallucinogenic score and Grieg Fraser's phantasmagorical photography. 

As implied, this three-hour event delivers full, exotic avidity, never getting too sappy in its progression and for a refreshing change, telling the tale without apology or nip-and-tuck appeasements, thanks largely to a respectful, no-nonsense script by Villeneuve and Jon (Prometheus/The Mummy 2017) Spaihts.

On this convenient front, its cast and characters are, therefore, allowed to thrive without restraint, which in addition to Chalamet, Zendaya and Butler, includes strong, anticipated performances by Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Charlotte Rampling, Stellen Starskgard, Rebecca Ferguson, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Alison Halstead, Souhiela Yacoub and a host of others. 

In the end, one should find Dune Two a super-solid offering. As with its first half, it creates a preordained, cinematic classic, but then the same can be said of those prior, movie versions. I suppose the deserved credit goes to Herbert for authoring a perennial fable that will probably be remade yet again in a few decades. Hey, that's just the way it works with any form of influential mythology.